Nude bathing legal for 50 years but young Danes hesitate

Fifty years ago this year, Denmark’s Ministry of Justice ruled that nude bathing is not in itself indecent, according to national broadcaster DR.

The 1976 circular stated that “nude bathing and sunbathing on the beach without clothes cannot in itself be considered indecent behaviour.”

Anders Nielsen, chair of Danske Naturister, said the group will mark the anniversary of what he called a “freedom letter.”

“It is important we appreciate that it has been 50 years since we gained this right. And we may need to safeguard it in a time when many are afraid to be naked,” Nielsen told DR’s P1 Morgen.

He noted a decline in nude bathing, particularly among younger Danes. “They are afraid to show their bodies. They fear being photographed and posted on social media. And they are afraid because they have a very different idea of what the body ideal should be.”

Nielsen, 56, was six when the law took effect. He recalled his parents taking him to naturist campsites. “Everyone was naked, so there was a kind of code. You simply did not think about it.”

Ragna Jørgensen, 31, a naturist living at the Solbakken campsite by Isefjord, said the age profile of participants is high. “It is just hard to get new people who think it is cool to walk around without clothes.”

She added that social media has shifted body ideals. “When we take off our clothes, we discover that we are the same, and at the same time not the same at all. Some have a bit here, some have something else. Some are very thin, some are very heavy. That is normal for all of us.”

Jørgensen said she would never consider lying naked in a park. “I want to take off my clothes in safe settings. And up here at Solbakken Camping, it is a warm and safe setting for me.”

In 2008, a family from Skodsborg successfully challenged Rudersdal Municipality’s attempt to ban nude bathing on their private beach. The Lyngby Court confirmed that nude bathing is permitted on all Danish beaches, including private ones.

Jørgensen said she still encounters occasional disapproval, including people pointing or boats passing slowly offshore. She once saw someone moon nude bathers from a boat. “It sounds absurd, because as naturists we do not mind a bare bottom, but it is the behaviour that is the problem. I do not think it is inappropriate when I just take off my clothes with my kids or my friends.”